


I Want to be With You

by Pansexual_Kenny



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Confessions, M/M, Oneshot, mythical creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:21:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27415666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pansexual_Kenny/pseuds/Pansexual_Kenny
Summary: What was it that brought them together, to be united in this perfect love?On that day, the shadows of his past had become unbearable. Meeting Lance brought some light into his life for the first time in a long while. He was his salvation.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 7





	I Want to be With You

What was it that brought them together, to be united in this perfect love?  
  
On that day, the shadows of his past had become unbearable. Meeting Lance brought some light into his life for the first time in a long while. He was his salvation. From then on, Keith was sometimes needy and close, but then suddenly cold and fearful. Lance tried his best to hide his pain, but it was plain in his depths. That was how it was to this very day.  
  
Yes. He often reflected upon that day with fondness. It was a day that had changed his life, after all.  
  
Keith , an aching young man in his best years, stood alone on the beach, gazing over the royal blue water with his melancholy russet windows to his soul. His obsidian hair danced lightly in the ocean breeze, tickling against one cheek as he tried to deny the stirrings in his heart, resting his cheek against one hand as he discreetly patted at his sheathed dagger. He wore a starless shirt that left his ivory, tinted with sorrel, arms bare and khaki shorts that looked comfortable and easy to wear. His inky mane brushed against his shoulders, complementing his mournful cotton candy-flushed silvery visage. A noticeable sigil provided proof of his descent. Furry ears flicked at the top of his head, and he twitched his onyx tail. Beautiful wings sprouted from his back. For a moment, he absorbed herself in these thoughts, of him, and Lance .

His ears pricked at the sound of familiar footsteps. He twitched his tail happily and looked up before Lance even spoke a word. "Keith ," he said simply with an admiring look-over and a beaming grin. His teal orbs complimented his coffee strands, kept masculinely short, belying his audacious heart. He was dressed in that exotic fashion in which he was most comfortable. He had a toned but slender body covered with khaki skin. An elaborate tattoo snaked its way around his visible skin. Furry ears flicked at the top of his head, and he twitched his auburn tail. Beautiful wings were folded against his back. As Keith drew nearer, he caught a note of Lance 's familiar perfume: sandalwood, earthy and spicy. His spheres softened. It always reminded him of the time they shared.  
  
"Lance . I feared you might not come," Keith whispered.  
  
Lance 's eyes widened. "Of course I came!"  
  
Keith shook his head. "Everyone else abandoned me."  
  
"That's awful," Lance mumbled. "I swear I won't." He affectionately reached out to him, and carefully he wrapped his fingers in his. With that, they began to walk along the beach. As they proceeded tenderly down the shoreline, Keith 's pools mused over the doubts that haunted him, trailing him like a mournful shadow. His lips softly parted from the confessions that welled up in his throat, only to be swallowed back in grim defiance. Keith struggled to keep together his fragile composure.  
  
"I'm... glad I was able to see you today," Keith whispered, steadying his tremulous voice. "While I still have you here, that is..."  
  
A faint blush tinged Lance cheeks; he turned his face away with a nervous laugh.  
  
"Heh, me too, Keith !" Lance didn't pick up the hint of foreboding in Keith 's tone. "Uh...so... what's on your mind?"  
  
Despite the enthusiasm in Lance 's reply and his grin, Keith 's heart sank like their feet in the ocean-kissed sand. What would Lance think about him? Would he recoil in disgust? In fear? In ridicule?  
  
But Lance was different from the rest. Under that charming, outgoing exterior, there was a truly kind heart. Keith had previously known nothing but loneliness and isolation until Lance came into his life and filled it with his warmth. Pain and doubt had plagued Keith before Lance nearly extinguished it with his infectious optimism. Although duty and obligation bound Keith , with Lance by his side, he could abandon her anxieties during those precious moments they spent together.  
  
Keith shook his bowed head slightly at the thought. He was lying to him; Keith wasn't worthy of his kindness. Keith was ... Nothing but an outcast. A freak. Abandoned goods. Inextricably tied to the burden of commitment. Wounded by the unexplainable.  
  
Keith was undeserving.

Before Keith could notice and dam the impeding flood, a bit of dampness flecked and darkened the sand at their feet. Tears were rolling down his cheeks in soft rivulets, like hot bullets. Then came the sobs, breathless and soft as the dark bile in his heart came to a boil and bubbled up in the form of quiet, trembling whimpers.  
  
"Hey! Hey now," Lance murmured, pulling Keith close to his chest. "What's the matter?"  
  
Keith pulled away and gazed into Lance 's concerned depths. The affable gaiety those deep sapphire globes once held had since given way to tender distress.  
  
"It's nothing. Please do not trouble yourself."  
  
Keith cast his troubled visage aside and fought back the welling tears, glinting gold as they caught the light off the heavens' sympathetic glow. The ocean rolled and sighed with his shuddering breaths, and the flocks of seabirds overhead sung their lament. A newfound resolve set itself in Lance 's eyes, and he pulled Keith close.  
  
"That's nonsense," he murmured comfortingly, slowly stroking Keith 's upper back. "You've got to tell me what's going on."  
  
"I...I could never do that to you, Lance . There's something about me you don't know, and I fear it's... it's too much to bear."  
  
"Come on. What could be so bad that you wouldn't tell me?" Lance attempted to cheer Keith up with a reassuring smile.  
  
"I've already been alone once, and I don't think I could stand it again!"  
  
"But you won't be! You have me, don't you?"  
  
"There's something that may be... keeping us apart."  
  
"How bad could it be?"  
  
"I can barely put it into words. You've treated me so well, and I never want this to change."  
  
"What makes you think it'll change?"  
  
Though comforting, the kindness in Lance 's reassurances only aggravated Keith 's grief.  
  
"Act as nonchalant as you please, then!" Keith sobbed louder than he had intended to. "It's horrible all the same!"  
  
"Well, whatever it is, I don't care!" Lance shouted defiantly. "We'll bear it together!"  
  
The sudden firmness, yet gentleness in Lance 's voice drew a slight gasp from Keith 's lips. Lance truly cared... for a person like him. He shook his head, another wave of racking sobs overcoming him.

After a few moments, they found themselves walking down the beach again. Keith couldn't stop thinking about his incomprehensible secret. It plagued him endlessly -- while he was far from Lance and while he was near. It threatened to consume him. When Keith had let the faintest hints slip in the moments before, it had already taken taken so much of his will.  
  
With concern, Lance turned his energetic spheres toward Keith . "Keith ? What's wrong?"  
  
"Lance ... it's..."  
  
And at that moment everything came together, all of the magic and the hurt that had been building that day, and he locked his depths with his and whispered, "You can tell me."  
  
It was like a floodgate burst, or some barrier of fear had been struck down. Keith shook his head and everything came out at once. "I don't know if I can put it into words. I... lately... it might not even be just lately.... It's nothing. It's nothing! Lance , I... it hurts, Lance ... there's nothing that helps. Except that... sometimes, I feel a bit better when you're by my side...."

Lance listened silently and solemnly. At last, when all the words had left Keith and he was at a loss for words, Lance reached out to him and took a deep breath to whisper back, "Keith ... that's awful. It wish that weren't how it is. I wish I could say more. Keith ...." Keith 's eyes began to burn, and he abruptly pulled Lance into a fierce embrace. Lance 's windows to his soul widened at first, but then he too felt overwhelmed by emotion and succumbed to the warmth of Keith 's touch.  
  
"You," Keith whispered, his breath hot on Lance 's ear. "As long as you're here, I... I can make it." They held each other as tears trickled down cheeks and dripped onto the shifting sands to be carried away into the sea. Their pain dissipated into a mist swept out by the ocean breeze and toward the setting sun, where dark clouds began to loom into sight.

They basked in each other's quiet companionship for a few moments.

"Look... it's the sunset."  
  
Keith lifted his head at Lance 's words to behold the dying sun's flaming radiance. "Mm."  
  
After a moment of silence, Lance asked, "Do you think we'll be together forever?"  
  
"Please... let it be forever," Keith murmured in response.  
  
Lance didn't respond to this. Keith glanced over at him. "Lance ? Is something wrong...?"  
  
"Keith , I was just thinking...." he said in measured tones. "Maybe this isn't for the best."  
  
"I... Lance ... why...?" Keith pleaded.  
  
"Well, it's... you know, I'm...." Lance paused and tried to put it into words. "I... I made a commitment. You... you know?"  
  
"Lance ... are you... throwing me away?" Keith murmured distantly.  
  
"No! It's... it's not that, Keith . I love you. But... the world... they won't accept us, don't you see? They won't think... that's right. You... you deserve better. Someone that'll give you something... legitimate."  
  
"I... I don't want that, don't you see? I want you, Lance . Please. Don't... don't do this to me."  
  
Lance shook his head. "If anyone hurt you because of it, I... I couldn't stand it. It has to be this way. Don't you see?"

For a moment no one spoke. Lance stared into him eyes and Keith stared into his. Lance gripped his hand tightly for a moment, and then slowly, slowly, started to let go.  
  
Keith 's hand fell and swayed limply by his side.  
  
"So... this is goodbye?" Keith murmured.  
  
"I... I guess so."  
  
"Will I ever... see you again?" he whispered.  
  
"I... I don't know." Keith turned sharply away to hide his tears. He just wanted to get off the beach right that moment. The sight of Lance was like a dagger to his heart.  
  
He was foolish for thinking it would ever work out, Keith thought. It never did. Nothing ever did.

The wind seemed to whip bitterly about his frame, and the sky had grown dark without her notice. Keith crossed his arms about his body in a vain attempt to keep himself warm -- and whole. He thought about how much warmer he would be if only Lance were here. If only...  
  
A familiar laugh made him look up. There -- there was Lance , standing with a look of surprise upon the distant waves, as if Lance were a figure of divinity.  
  
"Lance ..." Keith said softly to himself. His voice was loud and clear. It was as if the wind had stopped howling and the clouds had parted to shine a path of light from him to Lance -- a bridge amongst the waves.  
  
"Ninja? Are you coming?"  
  
Could it be true? That Lance had come back for him? "Lance ...!" He all but ran toward him. Each step he took was heavier than the last, but he wouldn't be kept apart from him, not by anything...

.~.~.~.

"He was a kind person. I used to see him feed the stray cats."  
  
"I wish I could have made him happier. And now he's gone...."  
  
"He was so skilled. So talented. He'll never know how much he helped us."  
  
Lance sat on a chair by the coffin, his hands around his knees, his depths dry, his soul too numbed to grieve. The funeral attendees -- And who knew there'd be so many to come to pay their respects? -- nodded to him as they passed. He nodded stiffly back.  
  
The reception lasted hours, but it seemed to Lance that it was only moments before the crowd disappeared. He picked himself off the chair and turned to look into the coffin for the first time since the funeral started.  
  
Eyes closed and still, Keith laid inside in a fine sable suit, his hands clasped over his chest. He could have been in a very deep sleep. Lance fought the urge to reach out and nudge him awake. Keith was gone. Gone because of him. Because he'd pushed him away. Trembling, Lance leaned in and laid a single kiss on Keith 's lips.


End file.
